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Senate Democrats and the White House reached a deal to fund the government, but lawmakers aren’t out of the woods of averting a partial shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump labored over a deal from late night Wednesday until Thursday evening after the top Senate Democrat unleashed several funding demands and the White House accused Schumer of blocking a meeting with rank-and-file Democrats.
“The separation of the five bipartisan bills the Democrats asked for, plus the two-week DHS [continuing resolution] has been agreed to,” Schumer said in a statement.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the “only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown.”
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“I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,” Trump said. “Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before).
“Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much-needed Bipartisan “YES” Vote.”
The deal brokered between the two would have the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill stripped from the broader six-bill package. Schumer and Democrats have been adamant that if the bill were sidelined, they’d vote for the remaining five, which includes funding for the Pentagon.
Their agreement also tees up a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for two weeks to keep the agency funded while lawmakers negotiate restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Trump and Schumer’s bipartisan truce comes after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans barreled ahead with a test vote on the funding package that was ultimately torpedoed by Senate Democrats and a cohort of seven Republicans earlier in the day.
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Republicans again have the opportunity to bring the package back to the floor, but to speed up the process, they would need consent from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
And they are still working out the kinks on their own end through the hotline process, where the package is scrutinized by every Senate Republican before being given the go-ahead for a floor vote.
Speeding up the process may prove tricky, given that several of the Republican defectors, including Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., were upset with earmarks baked into the bill.
And Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wants an amendment vote on his provision to strip the bill of millions in “refugee welfare money” and signaled that he may slow the process down if he doesn’t get it.
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Many Senate Republicans recognize that stripping the DHS bill is not the best outcome but contended that it was better than not funding the government and entering yet another shutdown.
“That’s the only way we’re going to get through this without a long government shutdown,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said.
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Despite lawmakers reaching an agreement that will likely see the remaining bills passed and keep DHS funded for a month, the House will have to agree. They don’t return until next week, and fiscal hawks are already publicly panning the plan.
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